1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of garbage trucks and particularly to an improved garbage truck that utilizes a unique, high-efficient packing method and multi-point contact rollers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Garbage trucks, as we all know, are needed in order to control waste and remove it to a location not proximate to where people live and work. To serve this purpose, many designs of trucks have been put into use that are highly specialized and automated in an effort to increase efficiency and to cope with an ever-increasing amount of garbage, at the lowest cost.
There are five common kinds of garbage trucks. These include the front loader, the rear loader, the side loader, recycling trucks and roll-off trucks. Each is used for a different type of garbage collection. The instant invention deals, with an improved type of side loader.
A side loader has an opening for the trash that is located on the side of the truck, just behind the cab, where the driver or loader can reach it quickly. With a manual side loader, the trash is manually dumped into the opening. With an automated side loader, a hydraulic arm with a gripping member on the end grabs the trash container and quickly dumps the contents into the opening. Side loaders are used to pick up trash in residential areas.
The loader arm of a side loader garbage truck is located between the body/hopper and the backside of the chassis cab. The purpose of this type of truck is to allow for a one man operation for pickup up 60 to 300 gallon refuse containers located in residential areas. These trucks pick up garbage from approximately 600 to 1500 homes each day.
Garbage trucks have a variety of sub-assemblies that aid in the collection and removal of garbage. These include the lift arms, grabber assemblies, hopper cover, tailgate and packer blade. The instant invention offers improvements to the packing method utilizing an improved packer blade and to the contact roller that is a part of the lift arm.
One prior art packing method is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,942 which is manufactured by Heil. The Heil side loader provides for a 180 degree sweep packer paddle. This provides for a side to side horizontal sweeping motion of the paddle. There is a hole in the floor of the truck that houses the paddle bearing, providing for a potential leak point at the floor seal. The cylinders that move the blade are mounted under the body, which provides a difficulty in gaining access for maintenance. Additionally, the grease points are also located under the body providing the same difficulty in gaining access for maintenance.
Another prior art packing method is the push pack design. This method provides for a horizontal push pack blade that moves from the front to the rear of the truck in a horizontal motion. This method requires a follower panel for the continuous dump of garbage. One downside to this method is the fact that garbage can accumulate behind the blade during operation. A manual cleanout trap is required to overcome this problem. Like the Heil product described above, this method provides for the cylinders to be mounted inside the body and carries the same drawbacks to access for maintenance. The cylinders are susceptible to damage from garbage. Again, the grease points are inside the body, creating difficulty to access for maintenance. Accordingly, servicing of the blade and associated components must be accomplished from inside the body.
Yet another prior art packing method is the rear loader design wherein the cylinders are still found inside the body, providing for difficulty in access for maintenance. The cylinders are susceptible to damage from garbage. The packing blade of this method installation and removal requires one person inside the body. Servicing of the blade and associated components must be done from inside the body.
It is one object of the instant invention to provide a packing method that overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art.
The instant invention provides for a sealed hopper floor that has no openings in the floor thereby eliminating the potential for leakage.
The instant invention provides that the cylinders be located above the chassis rails and outside the body for improved ease of maintenance.
The instant invention has grease points located outside of the body providing for improved ease of maintenance.
In the instant invention, the blade doubles as a hopper cover during the transport of trash.
In the instant invention, the servicing of the blade and associated components are done from outside of the body.
In the instant invention, blade removal and insertion is accomplished from outside the body.
Another improvement in the instant invention is the refuse loader arm. Prior art refuse loader arms have single point contact rollers. The rollers are used during the operation of the loader to reduce wear between the fixed part of the loader arm and the part of the loader arm that extends to pick the trash container. The instant invention seeks to improve on this aspect of the garbage truck by providing a multi-point contact tandem axle roller carriage assembly.
The loader arm of the instant invention utilizes multiple rollers providing for improved load distribution and reduction in the wear on the arm. The tandem axle has a center pivot pin that allows for multi-point contact between the rollers and the wear strip and that provides for reduced binding on the arm during arm extension. Removal of the carriage allows for the easily removal of multiple rollers.